personal stories

Here’s a testimonial from a former Bank of America customer assistance employee. She was fired on Monday for offering repayment plans to too many customers, even those who “deserved” the 29.99% APR for making late payments. After hearing her story, you might conclude that this job was never a good fit for her skills. The next time you run up against a dead-sounding CSR, though, remember that people like Jackie don’t make for profitable collections department employees, which is why they don’t stick around for long.

Alexandra Penney had been building up her retirement savings for over 30 years, and a decade ago she put her money in the trust of Bernard Madoff’s firm to grow it. You know how that story ends, but in her ongoing series “The Bag Lady Papers,” Penney writes about the emotional toll of seeing your life’s savings evaporate in what seems like seconds, and how she’s been coping since.

Our earlier post about carding senior citizens was all well and good, but here’s what life’s like from the other side of the register, according to Behind the Counter: “Nearly everyone who works a register and is faced with the prospect of selling tobacco and alcohol ought to be very, very afraid. Why? Because the federal government is watching you and will deliberately try to bust your Wal-Mart khaki-clad behind!”

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